Best "cake" cake I ever made for a birthday was pumpkin cupcakes batter x2, covered in chocolate buttercream.

Most popular party cupcakes: Make plain vanilla (or chocolate) cupcakes and put "surprises" inside, like vegan candy bars cut into smaller pieces. From outside, nobody can guess which flavour they'll get. (But first make sure that nobody's got any food allergies!) :)

My favourite is a white or sponge-y type cake, with a whipped topping of some sort (Mimicreme or Rad Whip come to mind) with fresh strawberries. If you're in the Southern Hemisphere, maybe that's an option. If not, the same cake and cream with baked brown sugar/maple/cinnamon apple chunks would be delicious.

Or the VWAV Blackout Cake. That's good too. (Not personally a chocolate cake fan, but I do really like this one!)

_________________when you realise how perfect everything is, you will tilt you head back and laugh at the sky. -buddha

Combine all of the dry cake ingredients in a mixing bowl mix thoroughly with a fork (so it looks a little fluffier), then add wet ingredients and stir until smooth (will have thick brownie like batter consistency). Pour into the pan and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely. When the cake has cooled, whisk together the first three glaze ingredients. Dip each strawberry into the glaze and set aside. Pour the remaining glaze over the cake and arrange the strawberries on top. Set aside to dry, about 30 minutes.

The half of medium banana instructions: What I did is chop the banana into small chunks poured in my cup of cold water balsalmic vinegar and vanilla in a separate container and and took my stick blender and pureed it so no bits or chunks were visible. My flour was sifted and I mixed all dry ingredients except the sugar until well mixed and fluffed and I add my sugar and mixed/fluffed again. I did use two teaspoons of baking soda (my cake rose to just the right level for a flat cake pan) I add my pureed ingredients and oil and stirred about 50 strokes. Do not use a mixer for this recipe! Hand mix it you'll be glad you did it won't turn out gluteny if you hand mix about 50 strokes.

Two layers with cherries:Make two layers a cherry filling center (I used a good quality jam cooked on stove top with chopped sweet dark cherries) and put a circle of maraschino cherries on top for decoration. The cake was moist, VERY chocolately and delicious and pretty. I'd show you picture but it's pretty much gone.

Let your layers cool until just warm to touch (about 10 minutes) flip onto your plate let cool just a little more and gently ice while still slightly warm this keeps in moistness. Bake your next layer repeat icing step. The icing looks shiny and pretty once it sets. If you keep in a sealed cake storage pan it gets moister.

_________________"Evolution is a constant process"If God hands you a literal lemon- keep your head up- Build a Lemonade Stand

I'm a chocolate lover! For my birthday a few weeks ago, I made two round chocolate cakes (use the VCTOTW or Sticky Fingers chocolate cake recipes) to make a double layer cake. For a filling between them, I used the Sticky Fingers white filling for "cowvins", basically a very creamy white icing filling. Then I iced the whole shebang w/ chocolate icing. After that set, I covered it in a chocolate ganache on top, letting it drip down the sides.

Now that I think about it, I really should have posted a pic, because it's like only the 3rd layer cake I've ever made and it turned out pretty great. And SOOOOOOooooo yummy! That cream filling was delish!

And I gotta add, I already lust after so many baked goods on this site (here's looking at you, poopiebitch)! but boy, do I have even further respect for all those who's cakes come out looking picture perfect! My birthday cake was worth it, but it was definitely some work, and you probably wouldn't confuse it with a bakery cake.

Have a happy birthday-- have your cake and eat it too!

_________________I once caught the clap from a salty navy bean on shore leave. Damn beans.--Desdemona

Holy Frigamole! You made that?! That looks better than stuff I've seen in bakeries!

seriously....(wipes drool off keyboard)

_________________Alina NiemiAuthor of The New Scoop: Recipes for Dairy-Free, Vegan Ice Cream in Unusual Flavors (Plus Some Old Favorites),Lizard Lunch and Other Funny Animal Poems for Kids, and The Hawaii Doodle Bookhttp://alinaspencil.com

A short questions for poopiebitch...is there a youtube video you'd recommend for cake decorating?I know there are a ton out there, but if you rec a nice basic one, I'd love to hear it.

Or better yet, do you have one?

I was just talking in another thread about maybe doing a video! I've never gone looking for one so I don't know what to recommend (although I'm sure there are some great ones), but if you're looking for how to smooth-ice a cake, this is a good picture tutorial.